From ALB@immedia.ca Sun Dec 23 15:48:00 1993 Received: from Clouso.CRIM.CA by dkuug.dk with SMTP id AA11693 (5.65c8/IDA-1.4.4j for ); Wed, 22 Dec 1993 21:42:04 +0100 Received: from immedia.ca ([192.139.197.1]) by clouso.crim.ca (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA05730; Wed, 22 Dec 93 15:43:20 EST Return-Path: Received: by immedia.ca (3.2/2.D) id AA1337; 22 Dec 93 20:49:50 +1900 Date: 22 Dec 93 20:48:00 +1900 From: ALB@immedia.ca Message-Id: <199312222049.AA1337@immedia.ca> To: ksar@hpcea.ce.hp.com Cc: cpwg-mail@revcan.rct.ca, i18n@dkuug.dksc22wg20 Subject: Norming and extending the Universel character set + address chg. X-Charset: ASCII X-Char-Esc: 29 ---------- Mike, please change SC2/WG2 mailing list (WG2 N 951R) as indicated below. I18Ners, please receive this nice Christmas gift that SC2/WG2 is offering us. Best wishes. Alain ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To : rnet(iso10646@jhuvm.hcf.jhu.edu) CC : rnet(sc22@dkuug.dk) Subject : WG2 December 1993 pack very interesting - miscellaneous issues Delivery : Reguliere Msg-ID : 19AC000100000007E7980000 From : ALB Date : 12/22/93 Time : 20:31 Type : EXPRESS Form : Mail Yesterday I received WG2 December 1993 pack and I browsed through it during the long (1 hour) wait for contact lens adjustment at my daughter's optometrist. I found very instructive (as an amateur of Zhong Wen [Chinese culture]), and interesting, Beijing's contribution N937, a proposal to add a new category of structured combinations to form virtually all existing Chinese characters on earth: it even says how to combine the radicals to present them, bearer of very useful information. I found in document N995 (minutes of WG2 meeting 24) that there were communication problems with the Chinese delegates and that this had caused the group to send China to IRG instead of WG2 for presenting this proposal. How come? It seems to me that it is WG2 matter, I guess people had not read the interesting contribution before, which is extremely economic in storage and allowing tens of thousands new characters for virtually no storage cost in table data. 2nd question: What is IRG, so that I explain that to my AAA (Anti-Acronymic Association) local chapter? (-: :-) Then I read the Japanese Position on an extension of UCS (N938): I tend to agree with Professor Shibano that either UCS-2 is used as is or then we leap to UCS-4 if extensions are needed. My personal feeling is in agreement with the expression of some members that most installations will not want to pay for more than 2 octets per character. This said, exposed with the error-prone problem of extension mechanisms, most installations that would require to go beyond that in my opinion would nevertheless prefer the simplicity of one and only one straightforward standard as UCS-4. Inventing a new ISO 2022 will only do harm in my humble opinion. So I strongly agree with the Japanese position on this. You may find this contradictory with my previous paragraph: for Chinese I said I found that interesting and instructive and I think it could be part of an informative annex, but first I have to study it more to see if it is not too complex to handle, even if at first glance I think the imbedded semantics might be worth the variable code in this single case only (as other combining characters also have merits which I do not contest). Useful to SC22 (WG20 and Plenary) will be the positive answer of SC2 to WG20 liaison report N909 (the answer is in WG2 N 948): even if it goes in a direction that is judged by WG2 as not exactly the answer SC22/WG20 wanted to hear, when WG2 says it is easier to normalize from fully-formed characters to composite sequences, and judges it wiser not to normalize UCS level-3, I personnally can but applaude to the statement "However, SC2/WG2 recognizes the need of the equivalent data, SC2/WG2, therefore, will provide the equivalent data with comment of warning for use of the composite sequences". This should be most helpful to simplify the ordering standard and I think as editor of the latter I could also cooperate in doing this in harmony. In fact it is like directions taken by some corporations (including my own employer): even if it is not a de jure norm, a firm direction de facto becomes a norm. This might be wiser indeed. I am very satisfied with WG2 work. I wish I were there. Finally please note a small change in the mailing list (N 951R) I would like to be made: please change the spelling of my employer (p. 5, last entry) from "GOVERNMENT" TO "GOUVERNEMENT" (the right spelling of "GOUVERNEMENT DU QUBEC") and change my email address to alb@she.org.uk with an indifferent alternate as alb@immedia.ca Have a very Merry Christmas, "hot" if you're in the Southern Hemisphere, and "snowy" (even artificially for most of you) in the Northern one, and a very happy new civil year of 1994. Alain LaBonte' Minist`ere des Communications du Que'bec in the world capital of white snow, Que'bec cc Mike Ksar, SC2/WG2 Convenor SC22@DKUUG.DK, SC22WG20@DKUUG.DK, CPWG-MAIL@REVCAN.RCT.CA, SHARE Europe NLA team, I18N@DKUUG.DK PS: If you want to write to Santa Claus, his real address is: Santa Claus / Pre Nol North Pole / P>le nord, Canada H0H 0H0 (note the valid postal code, ho! ho! ho!) It is too late for this year I guess (unless by express mail) but if you send a mail there next year you should receive an answer (Canada Post does ensures Santa team answers letters personally). This is no joke. We're not in April but we can nevertheless smile (-: